


The Prince in the Tower

by Vivien



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, F/M, Sleeping Beauty Elements, daring adventures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-17 07:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8135014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vivien/pseuds/Vivien
Summary: Rey never was able to save the frightened boy from her reoccurring dreams, so how will she possibly be able to save Prince Ben, cursed and trapped in a tower by an evil menace?





	1. Chapter 1

Rey woke up with a gasp, sitting up so quickly she nearly hit her head on the ceiling of her sleeping alcove. She pressed her cheek against the cool brick wall, her heart pounding in her ears.

It was the nightmare again. The nightmare of the boy, the shrieking boy clasping his head, writhing in pain under the bed covers and begging for help.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the sleeping chamber, and she caught her breath, resettling onto her pillow and tossing her blanket to the side, letting the night air cool her sweat-slicked skin. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she listened to the rustles, snores, and sighs of the other soldiers sleeping within their own alcoves.

When she was younger, she thought perhaps one day she would find the screaming boy and help him, and then the nightmares would stop.  Then came the Blight and the war and the Demon Knight, and she learned that her nightmares had nothing compared to what the real world could provide.

She stretched and tried breathing deeply. Sleep had never come easily to Rey. It eluded her the rest of the night, much to her frustration.

In the training yard later that morning, Rey landed a blow on Sir Finn’s shoulder that shouldn't have landed at all.

"Watching for Poe--" she teased, slipping back into a defensive stance, her sword ready, "--will get your head cut off."

"Not bloody likely," he replied, and his dark eyes lost some of the far off cast. He stepped back, shook his arms out, and resumed his stance. “I should be beating you soundly. What kept you awake last night? The Demon Knight or the boy?”

She scrunched her nose; Finn knew her too well. “The boy. I know I can beat the Demon Knight. I can’t do anything for that boy.”

“Well, wake up, because I’m getting you back for that hit,” he said with a grin.

“You’re welcome to try.”

They finished sparring several minutes later and sat down to rest on a log beside the practice courtyard's water trough. Finn’s gaze was far away once more, as if he could see though the castle’s outer walls and into the countryside.

"He'll come back," Rey said, her hand on his shoulder.  "Sir Poe of Dameron is the best scout in the Resistance.”

"Of course. I know that. It's just the Blight grows every day, and the reach of the Kingdom of the First Order grows with it."

“I bet that Jakku slowed it down,” she said encouragingly. “The Blight is no match for that wasteland, and the First Order is welcome to all the crags and cliffs and sand it wants.”  

“It is an awful place,” Finn allowed with a small smile. “It suits the First Order.”

“Just think what you’d have done had I not found you wandering the desert. You could still be there with their troops--eating, drinking, and breathing sand.”

“Deserting in the desert was not the best of ideas, looking back.”

“Do you ever have good ideas?” She elbowed him gently in the ribs.

“When it comes to Poe, yes,” he grinned. But then the smile faded.

“We made it through the battles, Finn. We faced down the Demon Knight. Poe will make it home from this mission.”

“You’re the one who beat the Demon Knight. But you’re right. He’ll be back. Do you-” Finn dropped his voice to a whisper. “Does your Mage gift tell you he’ll be back?”

Rey shook her head, glancing at the ground.  The Mage gift was something she didn’t like to talk about. She’d always known she had knacks for things others did not.

She could talk to birds, for one thing. She’d thought as a small girl that everyone could, and when she’d found out this was not the case, she’d kept it secret. The Mage gift, the power that unfurled through her and gave her the strength to vanquish the demon knight on that snowy battlefield, was something she wanted to keep even more secret.

A red-capped wren flitted down beside Rey, twittering excitedly. She cocked her head slightly, listening, and then she nudged Finn.

“We should go to the gates.”

“Why?”

“A little bird told me,” she joked. “Come on, we need to go.”

Rey and Finn made it to the gate just as Poe arrived, slumped over his horse, barely conscious and badly injured but finally home.

\--

Rey took up Finn's duties to assure that he could be a constant presence beside Poe's bed in the infirmary. She didn’t mind. She knew what Poe meant to Finn. It gave her less time to visit, so she made the best of the little time she had.

“Good evening, Sir Dameron,” she said, bowing with a flourish as she stepped into his room.

Poe chuckled and then coughed with a grimace of pain. “Such courtly manners. Have I been transplanted to the royal court of Coruscant?”

Finn handed him a goblet of watered down wine. “Check the dirt under her fingernails. That’ll bring you back to reality.”

Rey socked Finn in the shoulder, but she curled her fingers into a fist so no one could see her nails. They were, indeed, filthy.

“Very funny,” Rey said, pulling up a stool to Poe’s bedside. “I’m glad to hear you tease me again.”

“I’m glad to live to tease,” he said, but neither Finn nor Rey smiled. “Come now, all is well. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re very brave,” Rey said, nodding her head firmly and finally smiling.

“Not as brave as the famous cliff scavenger of Jakku,” he said, and she rolled her eyes.

“I’m just pleased we’re all three in the same room again--” Finn said, “--and not currently bleeding from fresh wounds.”

Poe glanced down at the dressing on his side. “Well, not from fresh wounds, at any rate.”

Finn startled and began rising. “Should I fetch a healer?”

“No, no, I’m fine. Sit, please.” Poe’s lazy grin put Finn back at ease.

Rey watched them, as they all traded barbs and jokes for the next few minutes. Poe’s hand covered Finn’s where it rested on the bed. Theirs was such an easy intimacy. Rey had never sought companionship, and she’d certainly never wanted a lover while struggling to survive in Jakku. Sometimes now, though, she wondered whether anyone would ever look at her the way Finn looked at Poe.

“Princess Leia wants to see you,” said Poe, breaking her away from her reverie. “She’ll likely send for you tomorrow.”

“Why on earth would she want to see me?” Rey asked, her heart rate picking up pace. She’d met the woman briefly – Leia was not only royalty, she was also a battle general – and she’d heard tales of Leia’s brother, the missing Mage-Knight, Sir Luke, since her girlhood in Jakku. He was the last Mage-Knight… Unless the battlefield power that had consumed her body, mind, and soul indicated that she was another.

“I don’t know, precisely,” Poe said.

“Did you tell her anything?”  

“I didn’t have to. She knows you’re special.” Poe took a breath and winced in pain.

“Right,” said Finn. “No more talking for you.”

Poe nodded his head, but before he fully followed orders, he took Rey’s hand and squeezed it. “Don’t be afraid of who you are,” he said. “Or who you might become.”

Rey nodded and squeezed his hand back. Then she stood, nodded to Finn, and left them.


	2. Chapter 2

Rey was summoned to Leia’s war room the following morning; she bowed low as she entered. She caught the scents of spice and lemon and breathed deeply. It was a beautiful room, with windows of stained glass casting colorful glowing ripples on the whitewashed walls.

“Enough of that,” said Leia said, sweeping from her seat to walk to the younger woman. Leia’s dark hair was in thick braids upon the crown of her head. Rey could see the tendrils of grey winding throughout the plaits. Though the older woman carried herself with her head held high, Rey could see the sadness in her dark eyes, and the weariness in the lines etched into her face. As was her usual practice, Leia wore a gown of deep blue with a leather hauberk over it. She carried a dagger strapped to her belt, but no sword. Leia was a general, not a knight.

“Welcome, Rey,” she said, taking Rey’s hands in hers. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve summoned you.”

“I have, Your Highness,” Rey said, her tongue clumsy.

“Come. Sit.” Leia gestured to a side table by a tall and narrow window. Rey spied bread and cheese, fruit of a kind she had never seen, and fine glass goblets filled with wine. “And call me Leia. Your Highness is such a mouthful.”

“Am I--May I eat? Or is not my place?”

“Of course,” Leia scoffed with a quirk of her lips. “It was set out for you.”

Rey gaped at Leia for a moment, and then turned her attention to the food. Years spent on the edge of starvation made her keen to devour food whenever she had the chance.

“Tell me, Rey, about what you did in Jakku, before you joined us,” Leia continued a few moments later.

“I was nothing,” she said.

“Come now, I don’t believe that. How did you survive? I understand you were on your own from a young age.”

“I scavenged for whatever I could trade for food at Niima marketplace. I could climb any cliff or peak and find the berries and herbs, magical roots and rare mushrooms, and the like.”

Unkar Plutt, the master of Niima marketplace, often remarked on her uncanny luck with locating some of these prized finds. The birds helped her, of course, but they didn’t pick her up and fly her to her destinations. She learned how to climb on her own, and she could make her way up the most intimidating rock faces.

Leia nodded. “But you never learned how to fight with a sword.”

“No, but I could take care of myself,” she said carefully. The apprising look Leia gave her made her nervous. “I had a staff, and I could fight my way out of any problem.”

“And yet you defeated the Demon Knight,” Leia mused. “I’ve summoned you here not just to feed you delicacies and ask you about your life in Jakku. The Mage gift runs through my family, and like calls to like. I know you, Rey. I can feel it through the Mage-Force.”

Rey’s eyes opened wide with surprise. She didn’t answer for a moment. “You’re a--a Mage? Like your brother?”

Leia shook her head. “I never trained, but the Mage-Force flows through me, as it does you. If we could find Luke, perhaps you could train, but, sadly, you’re stuck with me. I can’t teach you. But, Rey, I need you.”

“What can I do? I’m not _that_ special.”

“You faced the Demon Knight. You vanquished him, sending him in full retreat with no training and little support. You _are_ that special.”

Ducking her head, Rey’s cheeks burned red.  “It’s a lot to wrap my head around.”

“I know full well. You’ve heard of what happened to my home province, yes?”

Rey shook her head.

Leia nodded and sighed, the weight of years settling upon her features. “Aldaraan was a beautiful land. I was the adopted daughter of the rulers there, a war orphan scooped into the royal house, cherished and protected. The Emperor Palpatine and his sorcerer, Darth Vader, destroyed my home. Their armies razed the cities, burned the towns, murdered every man, woman, and child, sowed the ground with salt...”

She closed her eyes and reached for a goblet. Taking a sip, Leia continued. “I was part of the rebellion against the old Empire. We were victorious, eventually, but my home, my family – they were gone. Wiped from the face of the world. It was a high price to pay. Even more disturbing, I discovered that the creature who helped destroy everything I held dear was my--my birth father.”

Rey had heard rumors of this fact during her time with the Resistance forces. She’d never given it much thought. “It doesn’t matter, Your Hi- Leia,” she said. “Who your birth father was, I mean. You can’t help who your parents are.”

“He’d been noble, once. A Mage Knight of great standing and respect before his fall. In the end, Darth Vader turned against the Emperor. My brother was there. He witnessed him redeem himself. I could never--Darth Vader not only destroyed my home, but he also tortured me for information for days. Long, terrible days. There are some things you just can’t get past. When the war was over, and the New Republic in place, I kept that a secret, even from my own flesh and blood. This proved to be a great mistake.”

“Prince Ben?” Rey knew the prince had been missing for years. He’d been training under Sir Luke when he was last seen. Popular belief was he’d defected to the Kingdom of the First Order, for some inexplicable reason.

“Prince Ben,” Leia sighed. “As a boy, he was gifted, highly gifted, and it made his life miserable. I kept the identity of his biological grandfather a secret. It was revealed by my political enemies, and Ben found out without me being the one to tell him. He must have felt so betrayed.” Leia shook her head, focusing back on the here and now.

“We recently received information on his whereabouts. Sir Dameron risked a great deal to follow this lead. My son is likely being held in an isolated castle at the center of the Blight. Rey, I need you to go there.”

Rey’s mouth worked, searching for the right words, or, well, any words. “Why me?”

“Because when he was small, Ben had night terrors almost every time he closed his eyes. When he didn’t, it was because someone came to save him – a girl. His description of the girl was always the same, and Rey, that girl is you.”

“I can’t save anyone but myself, Your Highness,” Rey sputtered. “No matter what Prince Ben or I dreamed once upon a time.”

“Then you’ve dreamed of him before, as well?”

“I--yes. I’ve dreamed of a boy in bed, screaming in pain for help. I can never help him.”

Princess Leia sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she said, “My son is being held by the Demon Knights, or at least by one, Kylo Ren, their master. He may--he may be one of the Knights, himself. That is not certain. In any case, I need you to find out.”

“You have skilled spies. I don’t understand why it has to be me.”

“Because you’re a Mage-Knight, or will be. You’ve fought the Demon Knight and you won. You’re linked, somehow, to my son, and I want him back.” Leia’s eyes shone with tears that she would not allow to fall. “If you can breach the castle and find out the truth, that’s all I ask. Find out if he’s a prisoner, or if he’s there o his own free will. Come back and tell me, and then… And then I’ll know. Not knowing has been the most difficult part of all of this.”

Rey bit her lip, frowning. “I’ve dreamed of the Demon Knight before, too. Before the battle, I mean.”

“My brother would have said that the Mage-Force links all beings and all things. Will you go? What you discover will help win the war. And me. Please help me.”

Leia wasn’t begging. It would almost be better if she had been. Rey could have hardened her heart and said no; she could ignore beggars. Instead, Leia appealed to her as an equal, as someone who she was certain would succeed. Rey blew out a puff of air.

“I locate him, find out what’s going on and then come back to you with the information. That’s straightforward enough. I’ll do it.”

 

### ***

“What am I doing here?” Rey muttered to herself, as she scanned the bleak horizon.

There was nothing but black creeping destruction and grey skies in the Blight, and she’d been treading through it for two weeks. There were occasional pockets of faded green, places that echoed the magic she recognized inside herself. These places were subdued, but not completely destroyed. They were few and far between, and the closer she got to where the castle where Prince Ben was kept, the rarer they became.

Her specially woven cloak, a gift from Leia, helped her blend into the landscape. She had only seen a few other people, soldiers riding along distant roads and poor souls scrabbling along, souls barely kept in their bodies as they struggled to escape this cursed land. There were no birds to talk to, and Rey felt more alone than she ever had in Jakku.

Rey had also known hunger in Jakku for many, many nights when she had nothing to sell. It didn’t take her long to slip back into the mode of an empty belly and an active body, even though she yearned for the foods she’d discovered since joining the Resistance.

She saw the castle from a distance as she slowly approached the flat plain upon which it stood. It towered into the sky, a solitary cylinder of stone. Rey stopped in the twilight, estimating how much longer it would take to reach it, wondering, yet again, why she’d said yes to this mission.

When she thought back to the terror-stricken boy in her dream, however, she felt a pang of compassion. She didn’t want any child to feel that way, and no adult, either. Not even Unkar Plutt.

Well, she reconsidered, maybe Unkar Plutt deserved the terror. For at least a night or two.

Rey sighed, scanning the barren plain and planning her next moves. There was a copse of blackened trees and bushes not too far from the castle. It would be the best place to get a closer look and try to figure out how best to sneak inside.

When twilight fell, she slipped into the cover of the copse and settled in for the night. She ate a few bites of oatcake and pulled out her spy glass, expanding it and squinting in the remaining light. She frowned, adjusted the focus, and looked again. The castle silhouette had looked rather odd from a distance and now she saw why. It appeared that the castle was covered from base stone to top tower with thick vines bristling in giant briar thorns.

She shook her head. That couldn’t be, could it? She’d have to wait until morning to know for sure. For now, she would watch. There had to be soldiers guarding the castle and servants tending to it, even if Prince Ben was there on his own power. The Demon Knight, at the very least, ought to be there, or one of his underlings.

The dark sky, deprived of moonlight and starlight, loomed above her. She sighed and pulled out her blanket, wrapping it around her. She wondered how Poe was, what Finn was doing. She imagined their teasing, the taste of rich ale, and the comfort of laughing with friends. She shivered. She hated being lonely, especially now that she’d gone for some time without feeling miserably alone.

The breaking of the dull, grey dawn proved her spy glass vision of the night before correct. The castle tower and immediate grounds were covered in thick vines, sporting thorns that looked taller than she stood. She hoped that was a trick of the eyes since she was still a good distance away, but she thought it unlikely. Rey could see something else now with better light – the vines were in constant motion, writhing and twisting, lashing out and snapping back like snakes in a pit.

She watched for a while longer, looking for signs of guards or any other possibility of people. There was nothing, and she began to wonder if the snapping vines served the purpose instead of people. There were burnt out sections with new growth twining upwards, and places where axes had clearly been at work.  Leia had told her there had been rescue parties sent early on to locate Prince Ben. The rescue parties had never returned.

Rey nibbled on her breakfast when a flutter of color in the tree above her caught her eye. A wren, white and orange with black markings, hopped from one black branch to another, chirping at her.

“No, I’ve nothing to spare,” she replied back with a frown. “You shouldn’t be here. Why haven’t you flown away from the Blight like any other bird with an ounce of sense?”

The bird twittered and Rey scoffed. “You can’t say? Well, neither can I. I guess that makes us even.”

She didn’t mean to sound gruff, but it was her default in uncertain situations. The wren hopped down closer to Rey, cocking its head as it looked for crumbs. There were a few from the oatcake on her cloak, and she rolled her eyes and gestured towards them. “Fine. Go ahead. But only if you promise to help me if I need it.”

The wren cheeped affirmatively with excitement, and then flitted down to the cloak, pecking the crumbs away.

“You really ought to fly as far away as you can,” she said, looking through the spy glass once more. “I wish I could.”

The bird pecked around in the black moss on the ground, rooting out a couple more crumbs. It twittered again.

“I’m on a mission. Do you know anything about that tower? I’m supposed to get inside, if I can, and find a lost prince.” It sounded like such a mad and ridiculous task when she spoke it out loud.

The bird chattered at her, telling Rey about the Bad Place and the Bad Thorns and how she should stay far, far away and go home.

“Not possible. I promised to do this, and I don’t go back on my promises. I thank you for information, little bird. Do you have a name?”

It whistled and chirped proudly.

“Bee-Bee Ate?” she translated, as best she could.  Bird speech could be tricky. “I’m called Rey.” She broke off a tiny crumb of the oat cake and set it before the bird.  Then she put the last piece into her mouth and chewed it up.

“I think I’m going to climb those vines,” she said, nodding towards the castle. “It looks like there’s a window at the top that’s not bricked up.”

Bee-Bee Ate looked at the castle and then looked back to Rey before responding in woeful chirps.

“No, I can do it. I’ve climbed steeper and more slippery.” She sounded much more confident than she felt. “And you said you’d help me, right? Will you fly up to the window and let me know how it looks?”

Bee-Bee Ate didn’t hesitate. It flew off in the direction of the castle.


	3. Chapter 3

Once Rey got the hang of climbing the moving vines, it was still damned tricky. Her palms scraped up quickly from grabbing onto thorns instead of vines, but as they moved under her, a sharp handhold was often better than no handhold at all. Bee-Bee Ate flew beside her, warning of errant vines moving above or below her sight line, and it wasn’t terribly long until she reached the window at the top of the tower.

She peered in through the dusty glass, perching herself on the ledge. It was a storage room. She could see wooden crates and a thick layer of dirt on the floor.  Wrapping her hand in her cloak, she punched through the glass. Bee-Bee Ate squawked at the shattering, and Rey held her breath, waiting to see whether the vines would twist round her ankles and throw her to her death.

They didn’t.  Carefully she knocked the glass away from the pane.

“You stay out here, all right? I may need you. Don’t come in, though. Not until I’ve had a chance to explore.”

Bee-Bee Ate cocked its head, regarding her a moment before giving a chirp of assent. Rey smiled briefly and slid through the window into the castle.

It felt, for a moment, like she was swimming through thick mud. She closed her eyes, going under, as she sank to the stone floor.

When she opened her eyes, the room had changed. It was bright and clean, and colorful tapestries covered the walls.

“That’s… strange,” she said out loud, her head aching. She forgot about Bee-Bee Ate, the window, the glass shards that she should be sitting upon. Rey got up and wandered through the door of the room at the top of the castle.

She found stairs, and she must have gone down them, because suddenly she was in a large foyer with dark wooden beams arced across the ceiling. There was a painting on the wall – Princess Leia, beaming, with her consort, Han Solo, and a small dark-haired boy between them. Prince Ben, smiling a small smile, ears sticking out from his head, just like the boy in her dreams.

Rey wandered into the large dining hall, tables set with lit candelabras, flickering light reflecting on the stained glass of the tall windows. A figure emerged from the shadows--a tall man with wide shoulders, garbed in shining black armor. He wore a black helm and as he strode forward, fists by his sides, his cape flowed behind him.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?” His voice was distorted by the helm, but the anger she could hear clearly.

She stuttered, staggered back, because she knew him as well. This was the Demon Knight she’d fought, Finn by her side. She’d vanquished him, somehow, and she watched the black mist take him, dematerializing him from where he lay bleeding before her.  

Rey drew her sword, and the ground shook underneath her. She stumbled over a clump of weeds, nearly falling, and when she straightened, she was… back in Jakku? She could see the opening of the cave in which she’d sheltered for so many lonely years. The boy from her nightmares, from the painting in the foyer, stood inside, frowning at the cave wall where Rey had etched a mark for each of the days and days and days since she’d been left there as a small girl. He looked up at her, an expression of confusion on his face.  

“You were lonely, too,” said the boy she could never save, as he touched the marks in the stone.

Rey heard something from far, far away. Someone was frantically calling her name, over and over, telling her to wake up, come back, please. She shook her head, closing her eyes tight. When she opened them, she saw the stone walls of dusty storage room, Bee-Bee Ate frantically fluttering at the window sill.

“An enchantment,” she whispered, her eyes trying to shut once more. She had to get out of this room.

With all her will, she dragged her arms up and grabbed the window sill. Slowly, with much effort, she pulled herself back into her perch on the ledge. She breathed deeply, clearing her head as the magic that held her dissipated. Bee-Bee Ate sat on her shoulder, letting her know how long she’d been asleep – hours. It only felt like minutes.

“Yes, I agree. This is a problem. I think I may have a solution.” She pulled her pack off her back and rummaged through the pockets. “I brought something that might ward off the enchantment.”

For a little while, at least, she thought to herself as she looked for the kit she kept with her from her time in Jakku.

While the Mage gift was rare, small magic was not, and Rey knew the herbs and other plants that had powers. She took out the dried and shriveled toadstool, examining it in her scratched palm.  Too much would be poisonous and not enough would leave her incapacitated in another dream, but the right amount would help her stay free of the enchantment. Bee-Bee Ate tweeted.

“Well, it’s either this or climb back down in defeat. I haven’t done what I came to do. I don’t give up so easily.” Rey held the toadstool to her lips for a moment, and then took a small bite. She winced as the bitterness attacked her tongue, making her want to spit it out. She swallowed it down, and then she replaced the kit.

“I’m going to try again. Try to wake me if I get stuck in this room again, all right? And if you can’t, you must fly, little friend. Go to D’Qar province. Find the red-capped wrens, and they’ll take you to Princess Leia. She’ll understand you, and she’ll send help for me.”

At least, Rey hoped she would. Bee-Bee Ate chirped a querulous chirp and nodded. Rey slipped over the sill into the storage room. This time, her booted feet hit the dusty floor. Magic swirled around her. She could feel it pressing against her, but it was repelled. Rey took a deep breath and stepped forward.

She was not dreaming this time. With careful, quiet steps, she walked towards the door.

## ***

 

The castle looked nothing like the dream. There were thick cobwebs bunched everywhere, and she left footprints in the dust as she crept forward. The doors she came across opened into rooms with furnishings enclosed in dingy sheets. Every window was bricked or boarded, as she’d noticed when she was looking for a way in. One door on the second level down, however, was locked. She tried the other doors on the floor, and they all opened.

Returning to the locked door, Rey crouched down and pulled a pouch of tools from her pack. Scavengers learned all manner of practical skills in the course of their work. She picked the lock quickly and silently and opened the door a crack. Peering in, she saw the same dusty landscape as the other rooms, but, unlike the other bedchambers, the canopy bed in this one was not stripped bare or covered. Sheer dark green hangings surrounded the frame, and while the edges that brushed the ground were frayed and dingy with dust, they enclosed what looked like a body on the bed.

Rey froze, listening for indications of another person in the room. When she held her breath, she heard the sleeper’s long inhales and exhales. She frowned, glancing down at the floor. There were no footsteps in the dust there, no indication that the sleeper left the bed. She crept to bedside and halted before the touching one of the hangings, pausing as she debated uncovering the mystery – and possibly revealing herself.

A wave of magic brushed against her, and she wavered, her eyes closing and opening slowly. She couldn’t go under the enchantment here. She’d never escape. She gritted her teeth and pushed the magic away with all of her strength. The pressure abated, and she drew back the hanging.

A man was sleeping on the bed before her. His dark hair spilled over the pillow in waves, and his muscled arms crossed over his chest, which moved up and down in steady deep breaths. He held a long sword in his grasp, as if he were an effigy in a tomb. His clothes were fine, but the black velvet of his tunic was dusty, and his leather boots were dull. His face was long, his features strong, but his eyelashes were dark and curled, softening his sleeping visage.  

The similarity between the grown man and the boy whose face she knew well was plain.  This was Prince Ben Organa Solo. It had to be. He was alive, if not awake, and Rey knew her mission was complete. She could return home with her information of the enchantment upon the prince, and Leia would have what she needed to save her son.  Rey sighed in relief. She wanted very badly to be home again. The enchantment here, the dreams she was pulled into, unsettled her greatly.

As she stood there, Ben’s peaceful expression changed. His brow furrowed and his mouth went tight. Underneath his eyelids, his eyes moved wildly, as if he was searching for something within his dream. His breathing sped up, and he grimaced, as if in pain.  Rey stepped away, not sure what was happening.

When the spell consumed her, shutting her eyes like a physical force, there was little she could do. She felt herself falling, and she scrambled into a hiding place between the wall and the bed, shrouded in the hanging curtains.

Her eyes opened, and the room changed. It was opulent, immaculate, yet spare. The bed remained, clean and made, hangings pulled back. The window was uncovered, curtains pulled aside to reveal blue sky. The sleeping man in black finery was no longer sleeping, but pacing beside the window, back and forth and back and forth, his sword hanging by his side.

The only other furnishing in the room was a desk with a crystal globe upon it. When the globe shimmered with red light, Prince Ben stopped pacing and turned towards it, giving it his full attention.

“Supreme Leader, I am at your bidding,” he said, his hands clasped behind his back, and his head bowed slightly.

The globe took on the image of a face--a goblin face, Rey thought--of a shriveled creature with beady, malice-filled eyes.

“Master of the Knights of Ren, must we be so formal? Why have you requested an audience, Kylo?”

“I’m troubled. Why have you not brought me to your side to complete my training? I know my defeat on the battlefield was shameful, but I must know how to best the Mage-Knight when I meet her again.”

Rey covered her mouth with her hand. Prince Ben _was_ Kylo Ren? That made no sense. No one had entered or exited this room in years and years, it appeared. How could he have fought her in battle, done all the terrible things ascribed to the Demon Knights, if he hadn’t left this room?   

“It was a disappointment, indeed. Do you lose faith in our cause?”

“I want to finish what we’ve started. Restoring order to the world is of the utmost importance. Only I… wish to leave the castle. I’ve had disturbing dreams of late, which are no matter, of course, but I need to finish my training.”

“You will finish your training when I deem it time. Never fear, you’ll be leaving the castle soon enough. In the meantime, I’d suggest you reflect on your weaknesses.”

Rey watched as Kylo Ren’s fists clenched and released once, twice, three times, before he replied. “As you wish, Supreme Leader.”

The globe went still and dark. Ben strode out of the room, his eyes flashing. The door slammed, and Rey blinked.

She was trapped inside his dream. If she was trapped, he was trapped, too. He didn’t even know it was a dream he lived, while his body slept on and on in the dust. His blows on the battlefield had certainly felt real enough. She remembered seeing the steam of his breath from beneath the mantle as he taunted her, tempted her with promises of magic. What was happening here?

Rey got to her feet and followed Ben. It was an easy thing to do, as he was yelling and making plenty of noise as he slashed at the walls, the furniture, anything in his way. He stomped down the stairs into the foyer she’d seen in her first enchanted vision. The portrait of the family she’d spied there hung on the wall in tatters. It had been the victim of Ben’s sword before.

He panted, his sword pointed at the floor, and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to regain control of himself. Suddenly he twirled around, his eyes wide.

“What are you doing here? Who are you?” he demanded.

Rey said nothing. She stared back, as surprised as he was.

“It’s you…” Ben put his hand to his mouth, rubbing his chin. Then he spat, “You’ve come far too late. I’m beyond your help.”

Rey frowned and cocked her head and the world shifted beneath her feet once more.

She saw a young boy, the boy from her nightmares, sitting at a window, watching an entourage ride into the horizon, clouds of dust kicked up behind them. She felt the fear, the anger, and the confusion within him, the abandonment that made him cry while trying not to let anyone see.

She saw the boy, a little older now, levitating toys and placing them back exactly where they needed to be. Order was important. Order kept everything safe. If things were just right, then he needn’t fear.

She saw the boy, older yet again, screaming in pain as a monster invaded his dreams and soured everything within him. She stood over him in his bed, not sure how to help, terrified by the screams.

She saw flashes of Leia’s face, the condescending chagrin and embarrassment Ben had perceived when his family history was revealed. This was not the face of the Leia she’d met.

The boy, now a man, held his grandfather’s ruined helm. The Enforcer’s methods were extreme, but they’d brought order. He would follow in his footsteps, he would take power over all who had hurt him, and _he_ would be what was feared.

Kylo Ren stood stunned in the foyer as she rifled through his memories.  Rey saw not only his memories, but the taint of the poisonous dark magic worming its way through him. She pulled one specific memory to the surface of her mind, displaying it to him.

Leia’s face, begging Rey to find her boy, her regret and grief etched in the lines on her face. Rey shared her words, her wishes, and Ben shoved his hands in her direction, a frantic movement accompanied by a terrified expression.

“No!” he shouted, and the word echoed in the foyer.

Rey was pushed away from their connection so strongly that she might as well have been punched in the gut. She was back in the bedroom, back in her hiding place between the bed and the wall. She caught her breath, crouched in fear. When she could move again, she peered out. The only footsteps on the floor were her own. Prince Ben slept on the bed, unchanged and unmoved.


	4. Chapter 4

She stood up and watched him sleep for another long moment. Somehow, they’d been connected in dreams long before now. Somehow she’d fought him – or a magical vision of him – and won. And somehow, she was going to fix this. She didn’t know how. She didn’t even know why she felt compelled to do so. Her mission was complete; she could go home at any time.

His sleep was peaceful again, his expression restful. Rey placed a hand on his cheek. His head moved ever so slightly into her palm. He was beautiful, she thought with a start. Beautiful and imprisoned, in more ways than just by this enchantment. She knew what it was like to feel alone and afraid. She’d known his fear in his nightmares for a long, long time. The compassion swelled within her heart. If he was the Master of the Knights of Ren, he’d done terrible things. He might be a truly evil person, but in this state, he was being used and tricked for his Mage gift. If he was truly in charge of his own decisions, perhaps things could be different for him.

Rey closed her eyes and pushed against the magic that held him. She imagined herself lifting it away from him, fighting it into a corner, banishing it.

“Ben. Wake up.” She whispered this out loud and in her mind, willing him to come back. His hand clenched around the hilt of sword, but it was no matter to her. She’d fight him again, if she had to, but it would be with him wide awake and aware of what he was doing.

His head pressed against her palm once more, and then he grimaced again, as if in pain. His head shook no, and Rey saw a tear trail down his cheek. The floor shook under her, but this time it wasn’t enchantment taking over. Boards from the windows flew away in splinters of wood as thick vines shot inside the bed chamber. They wrapped around the bed, around Ben, and he began writhing in pain and shrieking as if he were the boy in her nightmares once again.

One vine shot across his body, and then another and another, binding him to the bed as the thorns slashed his exposed flesh. Another vine slashed across his face, leaving a bloody welt.  

Rey grimaced and drew her sword and began hacking at the vines, chopping and chopping. Ben was writhing in pain now, and as the vines tightened, his screams ceased abruptly.

“Oh, no, no,” Rey said, dropping her sword. She cupped his contorted face in her hands. His eyes fluttered behind his eyelids and she dropped a gentle kiss to his forehead.

“Wake up, Prince Ben, wake up.” She kissed him again, this time on the cheek, and pushed images of hope and joy, of companionship and happiness into their connection. She showed him how the castle truly looked, the extent of the Blight.

“Wake up. Come back.” Without even thinking, she pressed a kiss to his lips. They were soft, pliant, and she pulled away, shocked she'd done such a thing.

Kylo Ren’s eyes fluttered open. His dark eyes flashed with confusion and then something like relief as they fixed on hers. No one had ever stared at her in such an awestruck way before.

“It’s you,” he whispered. He loosened his grip from the sword on his chest and lifted his fingers to touch her cheek. “You’re real. You came for me. You finally came. What--” He winced in pain as the vines tightened around him.

“We have to get you out of here,” she said, hacking at the thorny briars. “Can you lift your sword?”

She hoped he could. These vines were tough, and once she got him free, she honestly wasn’t sure how she’d get him out. A red glow emanated from the corner of the room. His eyes tracked to the glow, and Rey shook her head furiously.

“Never mind that. He’s been using you. You haven’t left this castle for years. He’s harnessed your magic somehow, cursed you to sleep your life away.” His eyes were wide, and fear and anger flashed as he stared at her.  “Prince Ben, listen to me.”

“I’m not Prince Ben, not any longer,” he said, struggling against her embrace as well as the vines.

“Then Kylo Ren, listen to me,” she demanded, shaking his shoulders. “Snoke drains you of your power, tricks you by keeping you prisoner here, asleep and at his bidding. Break _free_ of this.”

A vine thwacked her upside the head and she wobbled on her feet as more vines flooded through the window, targeting her. She shrieked in anger and fought them back. In her struggle, she glimpsed the fluttering wings of Bee-Bee Ate outside the shattered window.

“Bee-Bee Ate,” she called, grunting as another vine struck her. “You have to get word back to Princess Leia. Go, fly! Find the Resistance.” The bird vanished from her sight.

Rey’s world narrowed to parrying and thrusting, striking the vines to keep them away from her. She eventually became aware of someone at her back, heard the slashing as his own blows landed on the vines. The room was thick with the briar vines, and the walls began to split and crumble as more rushed in.

She grabbed Kylo’s free hand and yanked him.  “We have to get out. Up and over, follow me.”

What followed was a bloody and miserable scramble. They would climb and hack, stumble and fall, thorns piercing them as the red glow from the ruined bedroom grew brighter.

“Come ON,” she called through gritted teeth, yanking him over yet another twisting vine. He was weak from his body’s stillness over years, and he was panting heavily as he tried to fight off the advancing thorns.

“I can’t,” he sighed, dropping his sword. “I can’t.” He glanced back towards the glow. “It’s too late for me.”

Rey sliced the vine reaching to grab him in two. “No, it’s really not. Your body is not at its best, I understand that.” She pulled him up to where she stood, letting him lean against her. “But your gift--you can do more with your mind than with your body.” She yelped as a vine wrapped around her ankle.

“Help me,” she said, grabbing his hand and squeezing tightly. She gazed into his eyes, her brow furrowed with determination.

He stared back at her. “We fight on opposing sides. Why should I?”

They both flailed as the vine beneath them tried to buck them off. “Is this really the time to argue?”  

They were jarred loose by another twist and fell, hand in hand, landing perilously close to an oversized thorn. Rey grabbed the vine for support. “We can do this.”

And then she closed her eyes tightly, and let the Mage-Force rise within her. It was a soft blue glowing behind her eyes, and it tingled through her. She could feel Ben--Kylo--beside her, could feel his power reaching towards her, his red-orange energy combining with hers.

The groaning and clacking of the vines stilled, as the motion around them ground to a stop. Rey ventured a quick glance. The vines were frozen in place.

“Come on,” she whispered, and she tugged him along, helping him down the side of the castle on a lattice of thorns. When their feet touched the ground, she whispered, “Can we hold it all in place and run at the same time?”

Kylo glanced up. A few vines were already beginning to unfurl.  “Not far. But we have to get away. Snoke will come. He’ll ride through the night.”

Rey squeezed his hand. “Then we run.”

They made it to the copse of trees where Rey had sheltered the night before. Kylo had to rest, Rey knew, and he’d need some sustenance to keep going. Who knew when had been the last time he’d eaten anything. As she tugged him behind a blackened bush, the ground beneath them began to shake. She glanced at him, frowning. This wasn’t still a dream, was it?

But no, it was castle crashing to the ground as the vines burst through stone and mortar. It fell into ruin in a giant cloud of dust, and the vines moved no more. They watched it, huddled close together. Kylo leaned against her, trying to catch his breath.

“We can’t stay here long,” Kylo said.

Rey disentangled herself from his side, or tried to, at least. He leaned in whenever she moved away. She doubted he realized it; he must be in shock. So long as he wasn’t slashing at her with his sword, all was well. She dug an oat cake and her flask of water out of her pack. “Eat and drink a little. You’ll feel better.”

As she handed him the oat cake, she reached up with her free hand to brush the hair out of his eyes. He shot her a look of surprise, but he didn’t move away from her. She dropped her hand, feeling suddenly awkward, and her cheeks pinked much to her dismay. She busily began sorting through the pack, keeping her face down and away from his gaze.

Kylo chewed the cake silently, his eyes closed as he savored his first food outside of a dream in years, Rey snuck a few puzzled glances at him until her attention was captured by the sky above them. It had lightened, and she could see blue peeking through the cracks in the cloud cover. The creeping blackness of the Blight was punctuated here and there by green pricks of new growth.

The spell was broken. The curse was gone.

“I feel like I’ve known you for years,” Kylo said, trying not to look at her and failing.  “I don’t even know your name.”

“I’m Rey,” she said.

“Rey,” he repeated, and she liked the way it sounded coming from his lips.  

“Are you ready to go on?” she said after a long quiet moment.

Kylo shook his head. “I can’t go back,” he said. “I’m not Prince Ben. Not any more. I can’t go back to them, to her.”

“We have some ways to go to find a horse, if we’re going _any_ where.” Rey paused, thinking. “I’ll let your mother know you’re all right; I’ll send her a message as soon as we get to a place I can post one. Then you can decide what to do for yourself.”

Kylo nodded and struggled to his feet, grimacing. Rey stood beside him, one hand reaching out to steady him.

“Once we get a little farther away, we’ll stop and tend to the wounds. You’re not bleeding anymore, are you?” She gave him a quick look over. Their clothes were in shreds from the lashing thorns, but aside from the massive scratch on Kylo’s face, they had escaped with nothing more than torn clothes and surface scratches.

He shook his head no again. “That would--be wise,” Kylo said, glancing down at his ragged doublet.

“I know a place we can hole up for the night. It’s not very far.” The abandoned farmstead was a long walk, but they could make it. Kylo didn’t reply. His lips stretched thin and his already pale skin went a lighter shade of grey.

“One foot in front of the other,” Rey said, taking his elbow. “Let’s go.”

 

***

They walked in silence, Rey propping up the much taller man more often than not, so their going was slow. By the time they reached the farmstead, the moon was high in the sky and the night’s chill was more pronounced with the lack of cloud cover.  Rey loved gazing up and seeing the stars twinkling and the silver moon shine in the cloudless sky. She had yearned for open sky the whole time she’d traveled through the Blight.  

She guided Kylo to a collapsed barn. The hayloft was at ground level now, full of hay that had miraculously not rotted. The roof was still intact enough to shelter them. She helped him inside, ducking under the window sill.

“No vines this time,” she joked. Kylo said nothing in return. He was asleep on his feet, which Rey thought terribly odd for someone who’d been asleep for years. A cursed sleep must not be restful.

“Here. We’re far enough in,” she said, tugging his arm. Kylo unbuckled his sword belt and let it fall as he passed out flat on his face onto the mound of hay. His quiet, steady breathing filled the close quarters.

“Well, you’re terrible company, Prince Ben,” Rey muttered, but she wasn’t vexed. She was exhausted, too. She picked up his dropped sword and moved it to one side, leaving hers with it. Then she ate, drank--they’d be able to fill up the flask at the well, thank goodness--and tended to her wounds. She mounded up the hay around them, making sure they were both warmer and well hidden.

Rey yawned and watched her new companion sleep. She didn’t know this man, not really, but they shared some kind of strange connection.  She knew he wasn’t a demon creature of dark magic, not really. Nor was he a shining paragon of virtue. He was, she thought, somewhere in between. She didn’t regret saving him.

She decided that she might as well rest beside him. Her sleep was light enough that if he tried to escape or hurt her or anything else, she’d know, and she’d be ready. She was always ready. Pulling her blanket from her pack, she spread it out on the hay beneath her and lay down, pulling the corner edge over her.

She hoped Ben--Kylo--didn’t have hay fever. His face was buried in the scratchy stuff, which couldn’t be good for that untended scratch. She sighed and scooted closer in order to nudge a corner of the blanket under his face. He murmured something in his sleep and burrowed closer to her.

That was unexpected. Rey wasn’t used to sharing her sleeping space. It wasn’t horrible, though, and it did make things warmer. With this last thought, she drifted into her own uncursed dreams.

The next morning, Rey was the first to open her eyes. She realized with a start that she was on her side, her back pressed to Kylo’s front, and his arm rested heavily over her, pinning her into the hay. He was still sleeping, his face tucked into the back of her neck.

She wriggled, a trapped animal in a snare, and rolled over, pushing him away.

Kylo woke up, anger and fear snapping in his eyes for a moment before confusion settled in. “What?”

“It’s morning. I need to clean your scratches and apply a healing salve,” Rey said, sitting up like nothing had happened. She didn’t like that trapped feeling, but she remembered his warmth, the feel of his body against hers for those brief moments. “We should be able to find something to eat besides oat cakes. This farm had foodstuffs in the root cellar when I stopped on the way to your castle.”

Kylo sneezed. “Damnable hay,” he said, voice weak as he glanced around the hayloft.

“Come on, sit up,” she said, giving her his hand again. “Like you said last night, we can’t stay here long.”

He took her hand and did as he was told, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Is this happening? It’s not a dream, is it? I can’t tell anymore.”

“It’s real to me in a much different way from the castle,” she replied. “So I’m fairly sure it’s not a dream.”

Kylo nodded and his stomach rumbled. His baffled, embarrassed frown made Rey chuckle.

“Here, have this,” she said, breaking an oatcake in half and tossing it to him. “I’m going to the well. We need to get you cleaned up.”

She crawled out the window and into a fresh and bright morning. Shades of green shimmered as life came back to the yard, pushing its way through the grim blackness. Rey found a private bush to take care of her morning needs and then got to work. She smiled as she walked to the well, picking up a discarded milk urn to collect water. By the time she returned to the hayloft, she was humming a little tune she remembered from long, long ago.

“I know that song,” he said, still frowning.

“Do you? Do you know the name? I just know the tune.”  She sat down beside him. “I’ll wash your face, all right? You can tend to the rest of your scratches if you like, but let me take care of this one.”

She wet a cloth and gently dabbed along the scratch, cleaning away dried blood and grime. Kylo remained silent, flinching every so often. He made a show of looking away from her, but she caught him stealing glances of her often enough to make her eyebrows furrow --and her cheeks burn yet again.

When she finished washing his scratched face, she handed him the cloth, not making eye contact. He shifted away from her and began attending to the myriad other scratches on his arms, legs, and torso. She busied herself with stuffing the blanket back into her pack.

“We’ll find clothes somewhere, I’m sure. These won’t do much longer.” Her leather hauberk had protected her torso, but her sleeves and trousers were in tatters.

Kylo did not answer her, or even indicate he’d heard her speak. Rey was on the verge of snapping at him when his soft voice mumbled, “That cave. All those marks. You were alone. Abandoned.”

It wasn’t a question. Rey shrugged. “I was. For years.”

“I was, too. People were around me, all the time, but I was, too. Where was the cave?”

“Jakku. My family left me there. I thought they’d come back, but they never did.”

Kylo nodded and frowned. “Family betrays you,” he said, biting out each word. “They’re supposed to love you the most, but they turn their backs on you, lie to you, and condemn you. You’re better off.”

“Then your Supreme Leader must be family,” she said, her anger leaping up from where it nested against her heart. “He’s kept you a prisoner under enchantment for seven years, used you and your magic, and you never even knew it.”

Kylo glowered at her, but she was not afraid as she continued.  “And yes, I learned how to get by on my own well, with no one to help me, but the nights of starving and the lonely winters I shivered through were a poor alternative. I’d have been happy for a mother’s welcoming arms.”

He ducked his head, somewhat abashed. After a long moment, he muttered, “She sent you for me? Truly?”

“She wants you back more than anything.”

Kylo didn’t answer for several more moments. “How did… my _life_ happen if I never left the castle?” he said, baffled. “It was real. My Knights were real. I knew their names, how they fought, how they hated. I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I. Maybe there are six more soldiers hidden away, asleep, being used for their Mage gift by that Snoke.”

“Perhaps.” He shut down, paying full attention once again to his wounds.  Rey let him.

She crept out into the farmyard once again, heading for the cellar this time. She collected some dried meat and sorted out the more appetizing remains of dried fruit left on the shelves. It would be better than nothing.

When she got back, Kylo was sitting with his knees up, his arms clasped around them, not unlike the little boy in her nightmares. Rey breathed in sharply. She knew that position well; she’d huddled into it many, many times on Jakku.

“Ready to go?” she said, her tone gentle as she tucked the food into her pack

He nodded his head yes and stood, waiting for her to lead. She noticed he didn’t offer to carry anything. That was royalty for you, she reckoned. They walked the rest of that day in silence broken only by murmured requests to stop for water or rest. Kylo was stoic; Rey had to give him that.


	5. Chapter 5

There were no signs of pursuit as they made their way, backtracking Rey’s initial path. At an abandoned inn, they found more food and clothes to trade for their ruined ones. They didn’t dare stay, even though there would have been beds to sleep in. It was far too obvious a resting place. Rey pushed them on, aiming for a hut she’d passed in the middle of a black-limbed forest thicket as their stop for the night.

Kylo didn’t speak as they walked. Neither did she. But they each caught glances of the other as often as possible. There was no reason for them to walk so closely together, yet they did.

They found the hut and settled in for the night. It only had one room, and while the hay-stuffed mattress on the floor smelled of mildew, Rey didn’t care. She set out the food, taking what she wanted. Kylo could fend for himself; she wasn’t his servant. Chewing on beef jerky, she spread the blanket over the mattress and settled down on one half of it.

Kylo half-heartedly picked something to eat from their supplies and once he’d finished, he stepped towards the mattress, unsure.

“I don’t have a blanket,” he finally said, looking at the floor. “Where should I--where should I sleep?”

“It’s cold, and there’s one blanket and one bed,” Rey said, annoyed that he was making her say the words out loud. “Sleep here.” She patted the empty half of blanket and cursed her insides, which were making an odd flutter that she absolutely hated. When Kylo didn’t move, she scowled and said, “Or sleep in a cold corner, I don’t care. We’re fleeing for our lives, and we need rest to keep going. Do what you like.”

Kylo returned her scowl, but he sat down on his side of the bed, curling up with his back to her, tucked under the edge of the blanket. Rey rolled her eyes and listened as his breathing evened out. She followed him into sleep not long after.  
  
A moan woke Rey in the wee hours of the morning. She was pinned again, held closely against Kylo’s chest, her arm slung over his shoulder. There wasn’t time for shock or embarrassment or relishing that strange closeness as Kylo moaned again. The heaviness of his arm lifted away from her as his arms flailed in the air. She sat up. It was a night terror, just as she’d seen in their shared nightmares. But this time, she was here to do something about it.

“Wake up,” she whispered, leaning over him and gently shaking his shoulder. “Wake up, Ben.”

His eyes flew open, and he swung a fist at her. She caught it easily and held her hand around it. “You’re having a bad dream. Wake up.”

Kylo’s arm went slack as he sank back against the mattress. “I--he’s coming. Snoke is coming. He’ll punish me. I deserve it. I deserve pain and punishment. I deserve it...”

“No, you absolutely don’t deserve it,” Rey scoffed, unfolding his fingers and settling his hand back to rest on top of his chest.

“What have I done? Why am I running? I have nowhere to go.”

“We’ll figure it out, all right? I won’t make you go back to our stronghold and I won’t let you go back to that tower. I’ll help you find someplace to go, but I won’t let Snoke take you back. Not unless that’s the life you really and truly want.”

Kylo stared into the darkness. “I don’t know what I want. But I _don’t_ want to be trapped in a castle and used for my power. I know that.”

She patted his chest. “There’s that, then.”

He placed his hand over hers. She could feel his heart beating under her palm. “Why are you doing this?” he asked.  “Helping me?”

Rey frowned. “Because I want to. Because I’ve tried for years and years and failed in your dreams.”

He squeezed her hand and closed his eyes. When he spoke, his voice was barely audible. “Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t leave you until you’re somewhere safe. I promise.”

He stared up at her. She looked away as his hand lifted up to cup her cheek.

They both started when they heard pounding of horses’ hooves from not very far off.

“He’s here,” Kylo whispered. “He’s come.”

“Shhhh,” Rey answered, tugging him to his feet. She handed him his sword belt and grabbed for hers with one hand while she reached for the pack with her other. Then she pushed him outside, searching for a place to shelter. There was a crumbling stone wall keeping the forest out of the clearing, and she steered him behind. A red glow approached from the trees, along with the clatter of wheels as a carriage and several horses made their way closer.

“Kylo, we have to use the Mage-Force,” she said, stroking his hair, trying to comfort him as his former master approached.

“He’ll know I’m here. The other Knights are with him. They’ll know. You should run.”

She should, really. It would be easier.  “I’m not abandoning you here,” she said, her voice firm. “They won’t find us.”

She took his hands in hers. “They can’t find us. We won’t let them,” she murmured. “Do what we did with the vines at the tower. Join with me, and keep us safe. We’ll hide behind our magic, and all will be well.”

His eyes darted towards the oncoming hoof beats. Then he looked back at her, his face pale and his eyes wide. “He’ll know.”

Rey shook her head and squeezed his hands. “You’re not alone. Not anymore. Close your eyes.”

The blue light flooded behind her shut eyes and was soon joined by the orangey-red of Kylo’s shining power. They sank into their combined magic, shielding themselves from the world outside. In this state, she felt his fear, his anger, his helplessness warring within him, and she hummed the tune for him, the one they both knew, to center him, to keep him with her under the blanket of their joined magic.

The carriage pulled into the clearing, the shuddering of reins and creaking wood announcing its stop. The Knights of Ren circled the clearing shouting to each other as they searched for their quarry. Rey was dimly aware of the search occurring around them, but her focus remained on Kylo, on calm, on hiding.

Two Knights dismounted near them to search the area on foot. Their heavy boots stomped along the front of the wall, and then they turned around to walk the forest side.

“He’s not here. They’ve either taken him farther or led us here to distract us from the true path.”

The Knights stood beside Rey and Kylo as they huddled together, protected by their magic.

“I think he defected,” said the second Knight in a low voice. “Ever since that last battle, he hasn’t been the same.”

Kylo’s hands squeezed Rey’s, and she sensed his heartbeat accelerate, thumping within his chest. She tipped her face up to his and kissed his forehead.

“Shh, Kylo, it’s all right,” she whispered and wrapped her arms around him. “Never mind them. They’re nothing to you.”

The first Knight nodded his black helmed head. “Either way, we’ve a long night ahead of us, and Kylo Ren’s not here.”

The Knights moved on, joining the rest in front of the cottage. Rey could hear, dimly, the sounds of the hut being ransacked, put to flame, but she kept humming the nameless tune, holding Kylo close long after the carriage and horses had moved on. They stayed that way, in a meditative state, until dawn broke and Snoke and the Knights were far away.

They opened their eyes and stretched out stiff limbs in silence. Birds chirped morning songs in the distance, and the forest was greener, as new leaves and shoots budded everywhere around them. Their supplies were destroyed, so they’d be hungry until she could scavenge more food, but she was good at that. She wasn’t worried.

“Have you heard of Takodana?” Kylo asked.

“The pirate’s island? Of course,” she said, standing and brushing the dirt from her trousers.

“That could be a good place,” Kylo said. He rose, and he took her hand, bringing it to his lips. He placed a kiss on the back of her hand, and then turned it over to kiss her palm.

Rey noticed again how ridiculously perfect his dark eyelashes were. Her cheeks went pink and she sputtered something about a mission and her duty and some other nonsense that was halted by the press of his lips against hers. It was a chaste kiss, lasting only a moment, and then he stepped back, unsure.

She squeezed his hand and didn’t move away. “We can go there, and then you can decide what to do next.”

“We can decide, yes,” he said, glancing at the ruined hut and then, finally, making eye contact with her.

Rey stood up, biting her lip as her cheeks burned again.  She rather liked the way he said “we.” She liked the intensity of his stare. She liked the shape of him, the feel of his body against hers, as she stepped into his embrace. His arms went round her, hesitantly at first, and then firmly, and she pressed her cheek against his chest.

She wanted to see her friends again. She wanted to return to the place she’d started to call home. But as she stood here in the morning sunlight, listening to Kylo’s steady heartbeat, she realized home wasn’t necessarily a place.

“Then let’s go to Takodana,” she said with a smile, knowing that this was the absolute right thing to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my editors and friends at the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology!!!! MWAH!


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